Process for making engraved plates



April 20, 1926.

P. STU RG ES PROCESS FOR MAKING ENGRAVED PLATES Filed March 24. 1924INVENTOR Presfim' 57Z/rge5 ATTORNEYS Patented Apr. 20, 1926.

UNITED STATES PRESTON STURGES, 0F BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

PROCESS FOR MAKING ENGRAVED PLATES.

Application filed March 24, 1924. Serial No. 701,603.

To all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that I, PRESTON Srunons, a citizen of the United States, anda resident of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings, and State of New York,have invented a certain new and useful Process for Making EngravedPlates, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to a process for making engraved plates for cards,wedding in vitations, announcements or any other purpose. Ordinarily,these plates are made on copper and are out or engraved by hand.Naturally this requires very expert workmanship to get good results,thus making the plates quite expensive.

In this process some of the well known principles of photo-engraving areused and a plate is obtained that is not only cheap in cost but betterand more accurate than even a very skillful artist could produce.

Further advantages of the process will be brought out in the followingspecification and illustrated in the drawings forming a part thereof. Insaid drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of one of the master blocks on which theletters or numerals of any desired style are placed;

Fig. 2, is a perspective view of one of the prints that are made fromthe master blocks;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the board on which the prints aremounted preparatory to being photographed;

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the board and the camera b which thesubject-matter to be engraved is photographed' and Fig. 5 is afragmentary detail sectional view of the finished plate after beingtreated with acid.

The reference numeral 10 denotes one of a series of master blocks, eachone of which bears a letter of the alphabet or a numeral. On theseblocks the letters or numerals are in white and the back ound in deadblack, the hatching on the rawing denoting the black. A number of setsof these master blocks may be made each one bearing the letters andnumerals in different styles of printing.

These master blocks will be photographed, and from the negatives as manyprints of each letter or numeral as desired will be made, preferably ona sensitized material, which is flat, unbreakable and cheap. On theseprints 11 the background will be dead city black and the letter ornumeral will be white, as on the master block 10. If the surface ofthese prints should become marred around the edges or elsewhere, theymay very easily be touched up with black paint.

Attention is now directed to Fig. 3, where a board 12 is shown, on whichis mounted the desired subject-matter for the finished engraved plate.The prints 11 for said subject-matter are selected and arranged onstrips 13 which are mounted in grooves 14 on the board. A plurality ofthese grooves 14 are shown so that the strips 13 may be spaced apart inany desired relation to each other. This entire board and the strips aredead black. The prints and the board being black and the letters white,when they are photographed on a sensitized will be no lines of divisionor emarkation between the letters. The method of adjusting the stripsdifi'erent spaces from each' other might be accomplished in numerousdifferent ways. The grooves could readily be eliminated and any means ofadjusting or moving the strips adopted. 1

The next step consists in mounting the board 12 with the subjectrmatterthereon in any convenient way on a table or stand 15. As illustrated inFig. 4, this is accomplished by a bracket 16. A photo-engravers camera17 is placed at the proper distance from the board 12 and is tilted sothat the plate in the camera is parallel with the board. Thesubject-matter on the board is then photographed on the sensitized platein the camera. From this plate or negative the subject-matter is thentransferred to a plate malde of copper or any other suitable materia Theplate is then etched or treated with acid and the acid will eat away thewhite late there letters and leave the rest of the plate smooth andperfect.

A flat plate adapted to be used for engrav-' I ing is then produced,with the letterin sunk below the surface as indicated at 19 in ig. 5. Assuggested heretofore numerous changes might be made in the detailswithout departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of theclaim.

What I claim as new is: A process for making comprising photographingblocks having thereon the letters of the alphabet and numerals, theletters and engraved plates a series of master numerals being white andthe background of prints to form the subject-matter for the the blocksblack, from the negatives thus plate to be engraved, photographing theproduced preparing a number of prints on Same, transferring it from thenegative thus 10 thin flat sensitized material, the letters and producedto a sensitized plate of suitable numerals on the prints being white andthe material, and treating the plate with acid background black, settingup on a black to etch it.

background a sufiicient number of these PRESTON STURGES.

